This quaint and picturesque street is in Erfurt, Germany, which was part of the itinerary of 10 county residents who traveled to Germany as part of the Sister City project at the county Tourism and Convention Bureau. The group's main mission is to entice Germans to visit Saxonburg, which is the sister city of Muhlhausen, Germany.

MUHLHAUSEN, Germany — Ten Butler County residents touched down in Frankfurt, Germany, on Wednesday to visit Saxonburg's “Sister City” of Muhlhausen.

The German town was chosen a decade ago by the county Tourism and Convention Bureau to be Saxonburg's sister city because it is the birthplace of John Augustus Roebling.

Roebling, as anyone who has spent more than an hour in Saxonburg knows, is the immigrant civil engineer who invented wire rope that was used to build several bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge.

Roebling and his family began manufacturing the wire rope in 1841 in Saxonburg, which he and his brother Carl had settled nine years earlier because its woodlands and vistas reminded them of their European hometown.

The Sister City project was formed to create a direct connection between Saxonburg and Muhlhausen, said Jack Cohen, the tourism and convention bureau president.

While there have been a number of trips between Muhlhausen and Saxonburg in which tourism and municipal officials have visited one another's cities, regular citizens make up much of the 10-person contingent currently visiting Muhlhausen, Cohen said.

“We've built a relationship with Muhlhausen and it continues to grow,” he said, “and now, we want to expand it to our communities.”

He and his traveling companions will march in a parade in Muhlhausen, where a large statue of John Roebling graces the town square, and talk to residents there about visiting Saxonburg.

“We can talk about our rich history that is tied to this old European city,” Cohen said.

He said Muhlhausen resembles Saxonburg, but instead of the early to mid-19th century, the buildings there were constructed in and around A.D. 800.

“It's just darling,” Cohen said of the German city.

He said everyone he had come in contact with as of Thursday spoke enough English to successfully communicate with their 10 visitors.

“And two people in our group speak fluent German,” Cohen said.

The group's itinerary also includes two other German destinations. Cohen said the group will visit the town of Erfurt, which he said was one of Germany's largest cities at one time.

“It's a lovely little tourist destination,” he said.

They will also tour the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, where Martin Luther translated the text of the New Testament into German.

“We'll also listen to some music by Bach there,” Cohen said.

In addition to visiting Germany and especially Saxonburg's Sister City, Cohen said traveling out of the country is good for all Americans.

“It's exciting to see that what people think are differences between us are not really differences,” he said. “It's a beautiful thing.”

Those on the trip to Muhlhausen are Cohen, Tammy Schuey, Fred Caesar, Janice Picozdi-Luffy, David Murray, Julia Murray, Andreas Beck, Melanie Beck, Kathy Allen and Judy Ferree.